


High School Reunion

by E_Hiiragizawa



Series: Sakura & Eriol: An Adventure [4]
Category: Cardcaptor Sakura
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Gen, School Reunion, Writing Exercise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 20:07:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29971620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/E_Hiiragizawa/pseuds/E_Hiiragizawa
Summary: Sakura & Eriol attend their high school reunion. Featuring the gang. Set in the same universe as my series and takes place after the events in "Forever and A Day".
Relationships: Eriol Hiiragizawa/Kinomoto Sakura, Mihara Chiharu/Yamazaki Takashi
Series: Sakura & Eriol: An Adventure [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2126565
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Too long to be posted as a oneshot, so I divided it into two chapters.

Sakura stared at the book on the table and concentrated.

"What are you doing?" Eriol asked as he entered the living room. "Staring at it won't move it. You're a magician. Use your magic." He sat down on the sofa and turned on Netflix. There were four profiles set up in the account, Eriol, Sakura, Kero, and Spinel (Currently read Spinny – courtesy of Kero). Eriol chose his profile and browsed through the movie selection.

Sakura ignored him and continued to stare. A few seconds later, she sighed. "Maybe I'm not cut for this."

"Of course you are. You're just trying too hard." Eriol said, but his eyes were on the screen. "Just let it happen."

"Let what happen? Nothing is happening!" Sakura huffed in frustration.

He turned his attention to her. "Maybe it's time for a break?"

"It's been almost two weeks and the book hasn't moved, not even an inch. Maybe I should start with something lighter, like a feather." She stared at the book forlornly.

"It's not about the object. You have to relax. Let your magic do the work." He then waved his hand and the book slid across the coffee table.

"When you do it, you make it look so easy…" Sakura complained.

"You'll get there." He encouraged and turned his attention back to the screen. Eriol had some shows that he liked to watch on Netflix. Unsurprisingly, most of them were documentary series, about animals, the planet, history, science, etc.

Sakura decided that it was enough magic for tonight. She got up from her place on the floor to join him on the sofa. "You know, I've been thinking. I want to learn how to drive. If I could drive, it'd be easier for me to get around, especially during rainy weather. Also if I want to go somewhere that's not accessible by public transport, I don't have to take a taxi or wait for you. What do you think?"

"Sure." He agreed. "It'll be much more convenient for you."

"I've done some reading about which driving school would suit me the best. I'll go and register on Monday." Sakura informed him.

"Okay. That's good." He said absently, his eyes on the screen.

"Are we going to Japan this year?"

Eriol nodded. "Yes, we can go to Japan in early December if you want to. I'd still have to work remotely, but nothing that I can't handle."

"There's literally nothing that you can't handle." Sakura pointed out. "Oh, speaking of which, I talked to Tomoyo and they're planning a high school reunion in December. Do you think we can go?"

"I don't see why not. What's the date?" Eriol asked. He abandoned Netflix and turned to her to give her his full attention.

"It will be a three days, two nights trip. We'll have to pay for food, transport and accommodation. Tomoyo said they want to recreate the class trips. She asked if we wanted to join, but also told me that the accommodation would be pretty much like a class trip, when we'd be divided into groups and obviously the men and the women would be separated." Sakura told him. "They want to cut cost as well as to make the experience as authentic as possible."

"That sounds interesting. If you want to go, then I'm okay with it." Eriol said. "If it's held in December then we should be able to make it."

Sakura nodded. "I'll check with her again about the dates and where we'll be going. It would be fun though, now that we're all older. And we'll get to see the old gang again. I haven't seen any of them since our wedding." Sakura said, excited at the idea. "This might sound weird, but I somehow miss Naoko's obligatory horror story during class trips."

Eriol chuckled. "You're just going to scare yourself."

"I know. But a class trip wouldn't be complete without it." Sakura remembered how scared she was of these stories. "Naoko is officially a writer now, so we can expect good stories from her. I'm so excited!"

"When you get scared, don't come looking for me in the boys room." He smirked.

"And when you miss me, don't come looking for me in the girls room!" Sakura glared at him.

And then they both burst out laughing.

* * *

"Feels like old time, right?" Sakura asked as she and Eriol walked along the sidewalk towards their old high school. Everyone would gather there first before leaving by buses. "Can't remember the last time we walked to school together. I think it was before you even asked me to marry you."

"Yes, I left before the winter term started." Eriol said. He had a backpack with him and Sakura had her own bag since they would be sleeping separately.

"Hm…" Sakura slipped her hand in his. "I had to walk alone to school. The first day, I was so sad. When I got to the intersection and you weren't there, waiting for me, I almost cried." Sakura told him.

Eriol gave her hand a squeeze. "I'm never leaving you again."

Sakura smiled widely. "I know."

Five minutes later, they arrived at their old high school.

"Sakura, Hiiragizawa! Over here!" Naoko spotted them and waved excitedly.

"Hi guys!" They greeted their friends. Eriol and Yamazaki immediately got to talking. While Sakura and her girlfriends busily caught up with each other.

"Please get onto the buses. You'll know which bus you belong to by looking at the name lists." One of the organizers said with a megaphone. "The trip is going to take four hours. We'll make a stop for lunch at 11.30am before continuing our journey."

They checked the name lists posted at the bus doors.

"Oh, we're all in the same bus!" Naoko said excitedly. They got onto the bus and settled down.

"Do you need anything from your bag?" Eriol asked as he put their bags in the overhead compartment.

"No. Oh, where did you put the water bottle?" Sakura asked as she settled down in her seat. She had a smaller bag with her that had the essentials, her phone, cards, wallet and both of their earphones. She took off her jacket and handed it to him so that he could put them above, along with his own. Sakura was wearing a wool sweater and she kept her scarf with her. Eriol had put on a sweater on top of his shirt. They both wore jeans and warm winter boots.

Eriol took the water bottle from his backpack and handed it to her. He then sat down beside her.

Twenty minutes into the trip, Sakura was yawning constantly. They just got to Japan two days prior and she was still dealing with jetlag. This morning, she woke up at six and couldn't go back to sleep. She glanced around and saw that most of their friends were starting to fall asleep, so she leaned her head on Eriol's shoulder, intending to take a nap. He wrapped his arm around her and she snuggled up to him and closed her eyes. The gentle rocking of the bus, his arm around her, and the steady rhythm of his breathing quickly lulled her to sleep.

A couple of hours later, the bus came to a stop for lunch. They all alighted and made their way to the restaurant.

"Oh! Looks yummy!" Sakura said as she sat down with her friends. Since she had taken a nap earlier, Sakura was now wide awake. She sat down between Eriol and Naoko and they started eating and chatting. The girls were chatting among themselves while Eriol and Yamazaki were discussing something else.

"I can't believe we're going to another ski resort. But this one has a hot spring too. Honestly, I'm more excited about that." Naoko said.

Sakura had to agree with her. Ski wasn't her strong suit. As athletic as she was, she just couldn't seem to get this one. "I don't think I'm going to ski. I'll just enjoy the scenery and the hot spring."

"That would make the two of us." Rika said. "It's been a long time since we last went skiing, I can't really remember how to do it and I'm not going to start over just for one day. So I'll just look around and enjoy the hot spring."

"I just can't seem to get how ski works. At least you got to the intermediate level, Rika. I didn't even get past the beginner level." Sakura remembered how she and Syaoran were the only ones who were stuck in the beginner class during their last ski trip in third year of junior high.

After lunch, Sakura and her friends lined up to use the restroom. As Sakura was chatting with her friends, she didn't notice that someone was watching her from a distance.

Fifteen minutes later, they were on their way.

When they got to the resort, they were divided into small groups for their rooms. Sakura, Tomoyo, Rika, Naoko and Chiharu all got the same room. Eriol would be sharing a room with Yamazaki and two other guys.

"Alright, let's get settled. This is not high school though, so you can do whatever you want. You can rent ski gears or other winter sport gears from the reception area." The organizer told them. "Oh and dinner will be available from seven to nine in the main dining area. We're going to have a tour to the nearby village tomorrow. If you're interested in joining, please register your name with us by dinnertime today. Other than that and tomorrow evening's formal dinner, the rest is free time. Have fun, mingle, catch up with everyone."

"Are you going to ski today?" Sakura asked Eriol as they made their way towards the rooms area.

"Maybe. But if you want to walk around, I'll walk with you." He offered.

"No, that's fine. I'll just check out that hot spring. You go ahead and ski." They went their separate ways as they headed to their rooms.

Sakura found her room and entered. The rest of her friends were already there. "It's just going to be like in school!" Chiharu said excitedly. "But better because we don't have to worry about any teacher."

"This is going to be fun! What are you going to do?" Sakura asked as she put her bag at the designated area.

"We're taking the ski classes." Chiharu said. "How about you, Sakura?"

"I'm just going to take a walk and check out the hot spring." Sakura told them.

"Let's go together then, Sakura." Rika said and Sakura agreed. "Oh, but aren't you going with Hiiragizawa?"

"He's going skiing." Sakura said. "It's just you and me then, Rika."

When they stepped out of the front door ten minutes later, Sakura saw Eriol was getting ready to go. He had rented the ski equipment form the resort. "Ah, go ahead, Rika. I'll catch up." Sakura said and Rika nodded.

Sakura went to her husband. "That looks different." She observed that he had a different type of board. He was dressed in ski jacket and ski pants and had put on a pair of gloves and ski goggle. Sakura could see that he had changed his inner layer too from the opening of his jacket.

"I thought I'd try snowboarding." Eriol said as he showed her the board. "I saw the video at the reception. Looks pretty fun."

"Only you…" Sakura muttered as she reached to pull at the zip of his jacket all the way up to keep him warm. "Just be careful, okay? Don't pull any crazy stunt before you master it." Knowing him, he'd probably master the snowboarding by the end of the day. "Maybe tomorrow."

"You know me. I'm always careful." He grinned at her.

"I know you'll prioritize fun over caution." Sakura pointed out. "I'm going to take a walk with Rika. I'll see you later."

"I'll be careful. Don't worry." Eriol assured her and then walked off with his board.

Sakura started walking, trying to find Rika, but her friend was nowhere to be seen.

"Kinomoto!" Someone called her name, well, her maiden name.

Sakura turned around to see a guy approaching her. For the life of her, Sakura couldn't remember him, but he seemed to know her. "Hi!" She greeted him politely, not wanting to be rude.

"Hi!" The guy smiled at her. "Remember me? Matsuda from gym class."

Sakura thought about it. "I'm so sorry." She said, embarrassed that she couldn't remember him.

"That's okay." He smiled reassuringly. "We were not in the same class. I was in 3-2. I transferred from Osaka in third year. We had gym class together."

It took her a few seconds, but Sakura finally remembered. "Oh! Yes, I remember now. I'm so sorry!" She apologized again. "How are you, Matsuda?"

Matsuda smiled at her widely. "I'm good. How are you?"

"I'm well, thanks." Sakura said. "You're not going to ski?" She asked.

"No, I've never been good at sport, ski included. So I'm just going to take a walk. How about yourself?" He asked, noting her lack of ski gears. "Not going to ski? I remember you're so good at sports."

"Thank you, but I can't ski very well, so no ski for me." Sakura told him with a smile.

"Sakura!" They heard someone calling her and turned to see Rika waving at her.

"Ah, sorry. I should go. See you around!" Sakura said as she started walking away, waving at him.

"Who's that?" Rika asked when Sakura had reached her.

"Matsuda, from 3-2. We had gym class together. He transferred during the last year." Sakura told her.

"Oh." Rika said. "Anyway, let's check out the hot spring…"

An hour later, Sakura and Rika were back to the main building after taking a walk around the area. They were both excited about the hot spring and would definitely try it.

They sat down for tea and cookies. The lounge was quite empty. Other than the two of them, there were only four more people in the lounge.

"When it's like this, it feels so peaceful, don't you think so, Sakura?" Rika commented as she sipped her tea. They spent the next couple of hours catching up. Rika told Sakura about her students and Sakura listened to her attentively. Rika was just like Yukito. They both genuinely loved their jobs and their students. Even though Rika was still a trainee teacher, it was clear that she had developed strong attachment to her students.

"Oh, I'm just going to go to the restroom for a bit." She got up from her seat and went to the restroom.

When Sakura stepped out five minutes later, she spotted Eriol at the reception area. He was returning the snowboard. So she made her way to the lobby. "Eriol!"

Eriol turned to greet her. "Hello, dear." He thanked the receptionist and then went to meet Sakura halfway.

"We have tea and cookies in the lounge." Sakura said. "Get cleaned up. I'll meet you there, ok?"

Sakura went back to the lounge and checked the drink options. Her eyes lit up when she saw some instant hot chocolate and they have different types too.

"How was snowboarding? Did you have fun?" Sakura asked when Eriol joined them a few minutes later. He had changed back to shirt and sweater and a pair of jeans. Sakura had made him a cup of hot chocolate, the one with extra marshmallows, and he was eating a cookie.

"It was fun. It's quite different from skiing, but still just as fun." He looked happy. "How was your walk?"

"We went to check out the hot spring. Also I've registered myself for the tour to the village tomorrow. I didn't register you because I'm not sure if you want to go there or go skiing. You can still register with the organizer if you want to join. But I think you'll have more fun here." Sakura told him.

"I'm actually planning to go snowboarding again tomorrow." Eriol said as he sipped his hot chocolate. "We also have that dinner tomorrow evening."

"It's actually Naoko's idea." Rika said. "She mentioned something about a dance party in America and how high schoolers there had it before they graduate. Since it's already too late for us, so this is the next best thing. She suggested it to Tomoyo and then the organizers thought it was a good idea."

"I saw it in movies too. I think they call it a prom." Sakura said.

"I heard about that too." Rika nodded. "I heard there will be music and all. It seems a little strange to hold it here though."

"As long as there are food and music, I don't think people would care that much. As long as everyone is having fun." Sakura said.

"Sounds pretty fun, actually. But we'll see how it goes tomorrow." Rika smiled. They continued to chat and not long after, their friends joined them. At 7pm, they went to the dining room to eat dinner.

After dinner, the group hung out in the lounge.

"You all know what time it is…" Naoko said mysteriously. "Time for the horror story!" Naoko announced even though the rest of the group have known the answer.

"Some things will never change." Tomoyo said with a smile.

"Okay, I have to ask, does anyone have any story?" Naoko asked, looking around. "Nobody? Really? Not even you, Hiiragizawa?" She sounded disappointed.

"No, sorry." Eriol smiled. "You're a writer now. You should tell the story."

"Hm, fine then." Naoko huffed, but they all knew she was happy to tell the story.

As Naoko told them the story, Sakura scooted closer to Eriol and by the time the story was over, she was hiding behind him, peeking at Naoko from behind Eriol's shoulder, but he didn't say anything, knowing that as scared as she was, Sakura wouldn't miss this for the world.

After story time, they all agreed to go to the hot spring to take a bath.

"Good night!" They bid each other good night, knowing that after their bath, they'd go back to their respective rooms.

The ladies went into the women bath and Eriol and Yamazaki went to the men bath.

"That's so relaxing!" Rika said after they got back to their room. "I've missed this, hanging out with you all."

"Yeah, it's been too long, hasn't it? We're all in different places now. Sakura is not even in Japan anymore." Chiharu said as they sat around.

"We've pretty much lost contact with each other. That's a shame. We should make more effort to keep in touch." Naoko said.

"We should do this regularly." Tomoyo suggested. "We have to make the effort, like Naoko said. If we stop making an effort, the next thing we know, we'd all have kids and never see each other again."

"Hey Chiharu, when are you and Yamazaki going to tie the knot?" naoko asked and everyone looked at Chiharu eagerly.

Chiharu blushed slightly. "How should I know? We haven't even talked about that. We're both busy right now."

"Well, you're still young. There's no rush." Sakura said.

"Says the one wearing a wedding ring on her finger." Tomoyo pointed out with a grin. The rest of the girls laughed.

"I'm actually surprised that you're here with us. I thought you and Hiiragizawa would be in a private room." Naoko said and the rest nodded.

"Where's the fun in that? We're here to catch up with everyone else, not each other." Sakura said.

The girls chatted late into the night. A couple of hours later, they decided to call it a night and went to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, Sakura woke up at seven. It had snowed last night and she wanted to see the fresh snow. She bundled up and went to the deck, greeting the receptionist when she walked past the front desk.

"Good morning, love." Eriol greeted her a few minutes later.

"Morning." Sakura turned to him. "How did you find me?"

"You forgot to hide your presence." He said as they both turned to look at the scenery and leaned on the deck railings.

"Oh, right." Sakura said and did that. Lately, she hadn't been bothered to do it, since she usually stayed at home. "You woke up early. Can't sleep?" She asked. Eriol needed good rest, a balanced diet, and meditation to maintain his Gift and magic, so Sakura paid special attention to those things when taking care of him.

"I missed you last night." He told her. "Did you sleep okay? How's the jetlag?"

"Took me a while to fall asleep. Both from the jetlag and missing you." Sakura said. "Just realized that ever since we got married, we've never slept apart. How are you doing? You didn't meditate last night, did you?"

"No, but I'll be okay. I don't like it though, being apart from you. Besides, sharing a room with three other guys is not as fun." Eriol smiled and held her hands. "You're cold. Let's get back inside."

"Just a little longer. It's so pretty." Sakura said as she looked at the expanse of white snow before them. "We can't get this in London. Not even in Tomoeda."

Eriol wrapped his arm around her shoulders and rubbed her upper arm. "Let's stay for a bit longer then."

"It's just like all those years ago. Our last class trip to a ski resort, third year of junior high. With Syaoran too." Sakura said as she recalled that trip. "We stood at the deck and talked about the future."

"I remember." Eriol said. "That was when we started talking about going around the world, see new things, meet new people."

"And we will." Sakura said. "Don't you think it's strange? How different things are from how we imagined it to be. Back then, I never, ever once thought that things would turn out to be this way. I thought… well, you know what I thought. If you had seen a vision back then, do you think you'd have seen this coming?"

"The future is very uncertain and it's not written in stone. While I can see the future and make things happen, or prevent some things from happening, there are still things that are out of my control." Eriol said.

"That's right. But all things considered, I think everything turned out well."

They stayed there for a few more minutes before Eriol insisted they go inside because Sakura started shivering from the cold.

They went into the dining hall for breakfast. There weren't too many people there.

"Over here!" They spotted Chiharu waving at them. They went to join their friends.

After filling her plate with food, Sakura went back to her table and then made two cups of tea, one for her, one for Eriol. She added the sugar, but couldn't find any milk.

"Don't they have any milk?" Sakura asked, puzzled.

"No, apparently they ran out." Naoko informed her.

Just then Eriol came back, his plate was piled high with food. "They don't have any milk for the tea." She informed him.

"That's fine." He sat down beside her and started eating.

"Is everyone going for the tour later?" Tomoyo asked. "We'll leave at ten. We'll have lunch in the village, walk around and we should be back here by three thirty or four as everyone needs to get ready for the dinner."

"I'm not going. I'm going snowboarding." Eriol said.

"I'm not going either." Naoko said regretfully. "I have an online meeting with my editor. Unfortunately, it cannot be postponed."

"That's too bad, Naoko." Rika said. "But work is work."

After breakfast, Sakura went to her room to get ready for the trip. Fifteen minutes later, she met back with Eriol in the lobby and walked with him outside. "Have you gotten used to it?" Sakura referred to the board.

"I have. It's not that difficult." Eriol nodded. "I'm going to go up the mountain."

Sakura looked up at the mountain. "Please be careful and stay warm, ok? Don't forget to take breaks and eat lunch. Do you have your lunch? And water?" She knew he bought some food from the hotel and took it with him so that he wouldn't have to come all the way back here for lunch.

"Right here." He showed her the sandwich and the bottle of water in his bag. "I'll be fine, Saku. Have fun at the village." Eriol then left, carrying his snowboard.

* * *

_A few years ago…_

_"_ _Kinomoto?" Seiki, one of Matsuda's friends asked. "Yeah, I know her. What about her?" He looked at his friend. "Matsuda, don't tell me you're interested in her…"_

_"_ _Why not? She's cute." Matsuda said. He just transferred here two months ago in the middle of the third year. He was angry at his dad at first, for forcing him to move during the last year of high school, but then he met her and he thought it must've been fate._

_"_ _She has a boyfriend already." Seiki told Matsuda, surprising him._

_"_ _A boyfriend? But I've never seen her with anyone." Matsuda said._

_"_ _That's because her boyfriend is in England." Seiki said._

_"_ _A foreigner?" Matsuda asked._

_"_ _Yes. He's from England and he went back to England last year." Seiki didn't know much about it, but that was what he heard._

_"_ _That kind of thing won't last. I had a girlfriend once. She moved to Kyoto a year after we got together. We broke up about two months later. He's all the way in England. Are you sure they're still together?"_

_Seiki looked hesitant. "Well, I don't know. I only heard about that kind of stuff."_

_"_ _See? If he left that long ago, I bet they'd have broken up by now." Matsuda said._

_"_ _Are you going to ask her out?" Seiki asked._

_"_ _No, not yet. But I'm going to, during our class trip next month." Matsuda said._

_Present day…_

Matsuda sat in the bus, looking at Sakura, who was chatting happily with her friends.

Years ago, he never got the chance to ask her, since Sakura didn't join them for class trip that year. After the class trip, everybody got busy with tests, him included. He wanted to go to university and he had to work hard, harder than the others, due to his unusual circumstances. Matsuda then planned to ask her on graduation, but he had to miss the graduation altogether because his dad was transferred back to Osaka a week before graduation day.

He was so pissed at his dad, but there was nothing that he could do. Fate had been cruel, but now, now he might have his chance. And this trip was just like the class trip, just like what he had initially planned all those years ago. Fate had given him a second chance. He'd finished university and now working as a Junior Marketer in a big firm in Osaka. He'd had a couple of girlfriends over the years, but he could never forget her. But now, they were both here. It was like fate had shown him that they were meant to be together. Otherwise, they wouldn't have met again like this, right?

The bus stopped and everyone filed out of the bus. They went to the local market to look around.

"Let's get the mochi!" Rika said as they saw the stall selling mochi treat. They joined the line and bought some.

"I'll have two chocolate and one strawberry, please." Sakura told the person behind the counter. "Can you put the chocolate ones in a box, please? Thank you."

"You bought a few, Sakura?" Tomoyo asked as she ate her own mango mochi.

"The chocolate ones are for Eriol." Sakura told her as she ate the strawberry mochi and put the box carefully in her bag.

"That's nice…" Rika said. "Should we get one for Naoko too?"

"Maybe we should." Tomoyo said.

They continued to walk around. It was a nice village with plenty of things to do. They went to some local shops.

"These are really nice!" Sakura said as she admired the local handcrafted items.

Afterwards, they all sat down for lunch.

"Hi, Kinomoto!" Matsuda greeted Sakura when they bumped into each other outside of the restroom. "Having fun?"

"Hi, Matsuda. Yes, it's really fun. How about you?" Sakura said, smiling at him politely. "I hope you're having fun too."

"I came from Osaka and I live in a big city. So it's been fun for me." He told her.

"Oh, I heard Osaka is beautiful. But I've never been there." Sakura said as she pushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

That's when he saw it, a ring on her finger. He'd never paid attention to her hand and she had always been wearing gloves when they met. Seeing the ring, Matsuda went from hopeful to disappointed. He was about to say something, but they heard some shouting from outside. They quickly went outside to check it out, along with the other diners.

"I wonder what's going on…" Sakura frowned as they saw some big commotion going on outside.

"Sakura!"

"Oh, Tomoyo. What's with the commotion? Do you know?" Sakura saw Tomoyo and Rika approaching them.

"Where did Hiiragizawa go to snowboard?" Tomoyo asked. She paused briefly upon seeing Matsuda, but ignored him.

"He said he was going to the mountain. Why?" Sakura asked, confused.

"Do you know where exactly did he go?" Tomoyo asked.

Sakura shook her head. "No. He just said he was going to the mountain. What's going on, Tomoyo?" She asked, noting that her friends looked a little frantic.

Tomoyo and Rika looked at each other.

"Sakura, there's a landslide at the mountain." Rika told her friend.

Sakura's eyes widened in surprise. "What?"

"They're sending search party there." Tomoyo continued.

"Search party? Then I should go with them." Sakura said, sounding a bit panicky.

"Absolutely not." Tomoyo said firmly. "Do you really think he'd want you to go up there? You know him, he can take care of himself, right?" She gave Sakura a meaningful look.

Sakura took a deep breath to calm herself down. "Yes, you're right. He can take care of himself."

Tomoyo nodded. "Come on, let's go back to the hotel. We need to check on everyone else there."

* * *

"Sakura?" Tomoyo approached her friend. "Are you ok?"

Sakura was standing by the window in the lobby, looking outside. "Hi, Tomoyo. Yes, I'm okay. Did anyone else go up there?"

"No. Hiiragizawa is the only one." Tomoyo said.

"Thank goodness. I'm sorry for earlier. I was just surprised. But you're right, Eriol _can_ take care of himself. If anything, he'd be a little upset that it has disrupted his fun. But he's going to be fine." Sakura said, but Tomoyo knew she was worried. The fact that Sakura had taken a post here at the lobby ever since they came back, looking outside and waiting for him, was a dead giveaway about how worried she was.

They stood there for a few more minutes and then Sakura spotted him walking back towards the hotel. He even still had the board with him.

Sakura quickly went outside and ran to him. "Hii!" She wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

"Hello, Saku." Eriol smiled as he hugged her back.

Sakura pulled back and looked at him, checking for injuries. "Are you alright? There was a landslide." She knew he was okay, but she was still worried.

"I'm fine. Yes, it was quite inconvenient." He told her. "What are you doing here? I thought the tour would be until four?" He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and guided her back to the resort.

Sakura rolled her eyes. Only him would call a landslide 'inconvenient'. "We heard about the landslide and came back here to make sure everyone is ok. I was also worried about you."

"Sorry, love. Didn't mean to make you worried." He kissed her hair. "I had wanted to come back here so that I could call you, but I saw a group of people stranded in the mountain. So I helped them first."

"Oh, are they okay?" Sakura asked as the approached the door.

"They're okay. They're a group of researchers, so I helped them get back to their base. Then I snowboarded my way down." He told her as they entered the lobby.

"Hiiragizawa, are you okay?" Tomoyo asked.

"I'm okay, Daidouji. Thank you." He said with a smile.

"Right, now that you're back, maybe we can go ahead with the dinner?" Tomoyo asked hesitantly.

Eriol looked confused.

"They're thinking on cancelling the dinner if you're not… 'found'." Sakura told him then turned to Tomoyo. "He's fine. Everyone has been looking forward to it, we have to go ahead with it."

"I'll let the others know." Tomoyo said excitedly and left.

"Huh?" Eriol looked at Sakura with a frown. "They were going to cancel dinner?"

"Well, everybody thought it would be inappropriate if we have dinner and dance while you're out there, missing in the mountain." Sakura said as they made their way to the reception so that he could return the board.

"Oh, it's good that I'm back then. It would be a great shame if they cancelled dinner." Eriol said with a smile. He thanked the receptionist and they walked away.

Sakura stopped walking and looked at him. "Why? What's so special about dinner tonight?" She could tell he was hiding something. "Spill it, husband."

"I can't tell you that…" He started, but she continued to glare at him. Eriol sighed, muttered something under his breath, and pulled her to the corner of the lobby. "Yamazaki is going to ask Mihara to marry him."

Sakura's eyes widened and she covered her mouth with her hand. "What?!"

"Not so loud, Saku. Yamazaki would kill me if he knew I told you." Eriol told her. "So please keep your voice down."

"Okay, okay. Sorry." Sakura whispered, but there was a huge smile on her face. "Oh my god! It's going to be the best reunion!"

"Mihara could say no." Eriol pointed out. "Then it would be a disaster."

"Huh? Why would she say no?" Sakura asked.

"Who knows what you ladies think or would say? Even I was worried you would say no to me. You even ran off, remember?" Eriol grumbled.

"Stop complaining. Oh, I can't wait until tonight!" Sakura clapped her hands together.

"C'mon. I'm hungry. Let's get some snacks." He said, trying to get her to calm down before someone else heard.

"I got you some mochi from the village. It's very nice. Get cleaned up. I'll get you a sandwich too." Sakura told him.

Once he'd cleaned up, Eriol went to the lounge. Some of his friends checked in with him and he assured them that he was okay. He told them he managed to find shelter and stay safe.

"This is great! Thanks!" Eriol said as he munched on the mochi. Sakura had placed a cup of hot chocolate on the table in front of him. He had finished the sandwich and was now eating the mochi for dessert.

Sakura looked at him adoringly. She knew he must've done some magic earlier to take care of the landslide. "What did you do with the landslide?"

"I stabilized the ground. It's all good now." He replied and sipped his drink. "I was having lunch when the ground started shaking."

"That's a relief." Sakura said as she sipped her tea. After they were done, they went back to their rooms to get ready for dinner.

* * *

The girls met the guys at the entrance of the dining hall. Eriol immediately offered his arm to his wife, who took it.

"You two are wearing matching colours!" Naoko exclaimed. Sakura was wearing a dark blue cocktail dress and Eriol was wearing a white shirt, dark blue tie and navy blue suit.

Sakura looked at herself and then at her husband. "Oh, yeah."

"How lovely!" Rika said with a smile. "Eh, Yamazaki and Chiharu too?"

They all turned to the other couple. "Huh? Didn't even realize that." Chiharu said, genuinely surprised.

Sakura guessed Yamazaki had deliberately matched his tie to Chiharu's dress.

The dinner was a buffet style. They talked and ate and the atmosphere was generally happy. There was a soft instrumental music playing in the background.

"Go easy on the beer there, buddy." Eriol reminded his friend. In his nervousness, Yamazaki had drowned a glass of beer so quickly.

"I know, I know." Yamazaki said. "You want beer?"

"I don't drink." Eriol told him. "And you shouldn't either. Not until later."

Yamazaki started fidgeting. "Were you nervous too? When you ask her?" He asked as he glanced at Sakura, who was talking to the girls.

Eriol nodded. "Of course. But you're going to be okay." He told his friend. "Just say what you want to say. Don't overthink it."

When the dance music started about an hour later, the organizer announced it was time to dance. "Don't be shy everyone!"

They had cleared out the tables to make a makeshift dance floor. People started filing into the dance floor. The music was fast and upbeat, so Eriol wasn't interested. He saw Sakura was pulled by her friends onto the dance floor and he watched her contentedly from the side.

After the song ended, Sakura went in search of her husband and found him standing by himself. "Where's your friend?" She asked, referring to Yamazaki.

"Getting ready for the big event." Eriol replied. "He's going to do it outside."

Sakura glanced around and saw Yamazaki talking to Chiharu and they left. Sakura smiled widely. She and Eriol stood at the side of the room, talking quietly.

"You look very beautiful, my love." Eriol said, a gentle smile on his face.

"You said that every time." Sakura said, but she was smiling too.

"And I mean it, every time." He wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close. "I love you." He told her and kissed her cheek.

Sakura's smile widened. "I love you too."

They were so caught up in each other, neither of them realized that they were being watched.

"Sakura and Hiiragizawa are really romantic." Naoko said as she, Rika and Tomoyo watched the couple.

"You're right. They sure are. Where's Chiharu?" Rika asked, looking around.

"Who knows…" Naoko shrugged.

Tomoyo, however, wasn't listening. She noticed they were not the only ones watching the couple. The guy from earlier, Tomoyo didn't recognize him, was watching too, and he didn't look happy. "Who's that guy?"

Her friends looked and then Rika said. "I think that's Matsuda, from 3-2. Sakura mentioned about him yesterday. Wasn't he with her too earlier? In the restaurant?"

"What's wrong, Tomoyo?" Naoko asked, seeing Tomoyo's frown.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Tomoyo said. The other two looked confused, but before they could say anything, Matsuda had made his way to the Hiiragizawas.

"Hey, Hiiragizawa!"

The couple turned when they heard their name being called.

"Yes?" Eriol responded as he saw a guy he didn't recognize walking towards them.

"Why don't you just go back to where you come from, huh?!" Matsuda yelled in Eriol's face when he reached them. He wasn't as tall as Eriol was, but he was bigger and more muscular.

Eriol pushed Sakura behind him. He didn't know what this guy wanted, but he was clearly very drunk. Eriol could even smell the alcohol in his breath.

"That's very rude." Eriol commented calmly.

"You think just because you're from England, you're better than the rest of us?!" Matsuda's yelling had attracted the other people's attention and some of his friends were starting to make their way to him. "Someone needs to teach you a lesson!" He took a swing at Eriol.

One moment, he was throwing a punch, the next, Matsuda found himself on the floor. He was so shocked, he sobered up a little. He looked up and saw Eriol standing over him. His eyes widened. He didn't even see him move!

"Please allow me to teach you a lesson." Eriol said coldly. "If you come near my wife with a fist again, I will not be as kind." He then wrapped his arm around Sakura's waist and led her away calmly.

"What's going on?" Yamazaki and Chiharu had arrived just in time to see Matsuda trying to hit Eriol, only to be flipped to the floor.

Eriol and Sakura stopped near Yamazaki and Chiharu. "Congratulations." Eriol said sincerely, smiling widely as if he didn't just flip a guy to the floor a minute ago.

"Uh, thanks." Yamazaki said. "What's the deal with that guy?"

"How should I know?" Eriol shrugged his shoulders as the rest of the girls caught on and were congratulating Chiharu. "He came up to us and started yelling."

Yamazaki looked thoughtful for a second, and then he remembered the guy. "Oh, I think that's Matsuda. He transferred to our school a few months after you left and I heard he had some sort of a crush on Sakura."

"I see." Eriol said simply, looking at his wife, who was excitedly talking to Chiharu. Yet another guy was interested in her and she didn't even know it.

"How odd. He should've known that she's married." Yamazaki said. "Guess you've made things clear for him."

"He's very drunk. But, let's not talk about that. Let's celebrate your engagement."

The group talked happily for the remainder of the party and at 10pm, they decided to call it a night and went to take a bath.

* * *

Sakura finished her bath and stepped out of the bathroom and turned to the hallway that led to her room. But she stopped short upon seeing Eriol leaning against the wall, clearly waiting for her. He straightened up and smiled. "Nice bath?"

"It was, but what are you doing here?" Sakura asked. He still had his jacket on and had loosened up his tie. "It's late. Why haven't you bathed yet?"

"I was waiting for you. Come, I'll walk you back to your room." He said and they started walking. "He's interested in you. Yamazaki told me."

"You and Yamazaki seem to be sharing a lot of stuff." Sakura smiled softly.

"He didn't say much. Just that Matsuda seemed to have a crush on you back in high school." They talked softly as they walked past the rooms.

"And yet, I didn't notice it. Again." Sakura said, amusement lacing her voice at her own oblivion. "He was in a different class. We sometimes had combined gym class, but other than that, I didn't usually see him around. Besides, I was too busy with my own study and missing you."

"Did something happen recently? Since we got here." Eriol asked curiously.

"Hm…" Sakura looked thoughtful. "We met yesterday afternoon, after you left to go snowboarding. We chatted for a bit, just saying hi. And then again, this afternoon after lunch. He was telling me about Osaka when we heard a big commotion. Then Tomoyo told me about the landslide and we came back here. I didn't talk to him again until he approached us during dinner. I don't think I did anything to offend him, but who knows… Why are you worried about this? It's not like we're going to see him again after the reunion is over."

"I know. I just don't want to be taken by surprise." Eriol said as they reached her room. "Here we are. Good night, my dear."

"Good night." Sakura said with a smile.

"I shall miss you." Eriol whispered and captured her lips in a gentle kiss. After their kiss, he waited until she had gotten into her room before walking away, back to his own room.

Sakura closed the door and turned around to find her friends looking at her. "What?"

"You do know that we could see what's going on behind the door?" Naoko said with a grin across her face.

Sakura turned to look at the door. True enough, while it wasn't exactly transparent, if something was going on the other side, they would be able to see the shadow.

"That's very romantic of him to walk you here and then kiss you good night." Rika said, also grinning. "It's just like in the movies."

"Oh, he's just worried after what happened earlier." Sakura told her friends as she joined them.

Everyone's smile disappeared.

"Well, yes of course he is. He should be. That Matsuda guy is out of his mind." Naoko said, now she sounded upset. "But Hiiragizawa was so cool. He just flipped him over like that. It happened so fast."

"Uh, yeah…" Sakura rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. She couldn't tell them that Eriol was a skilled fighter and a drunk guy was hardly even a match. "I wonder why he did that though. I don't think I said anything that would've offended him."

"Isn't it obvious? He's interested in you." Tomoyo said. "Really, Sakura? It's been years. You can't be still that clueless about guys."

"I know that. Eriol mentioned. Yamazaki told him." Sakura said. "But I just don't get why he decided to do that."

"He's very drunk." Naoko pointed out. "Drunk people do things without any reason. I hope that one day, when I find someone, he won't be a drinker. But now it seems impossible to find that kind of guy…"

"It's not impossible, Naoko. You just have to find the right one." Sakura then turned to Chiharu. "Like Chiharu here…"

Chiharu blushed as their attention turned to her now. "I didn't even know he was going to do that."

"Yamazaki hid his nervousness well if you didn't even notice it, Chiharu!" Sakura said, smiling widely.

"You knew?" Now, everyone looked at Sakura.

"Well, if Yamazaki didn't want me to find out, he shouldn't have told my husband." Sakura pointed out. "But I only found out earlier this afternoon."

"But how did you know that Yamazaki told him in the first place?" Naoko asked.

"Earlier, Eriol looked relieved when he heard about the dinner being un-cancelled. I asked him what was going to happen. At first he refused to tell me, but I bullied him into telling me."

"You two are quite a pair, huh Sakura?" Tomoyo said, laughing slightly.

"So, Chiharu, when is the date?" Rika asked excitedly.

Chiharu looked embarrassed. "We just got engaged. We haven't even thought about that, Rika."

"You two have been together for such a long time. There's really no rush." Sakura said. "Get married only when you're both ready."

"You and Hiiragizawa dated for a few years too before getting married. Are they very different? Dating and being married?" Chiharu asked Sakura.

Sakura thought about it. "Well, yes of course they're different, Chiharu. When you're married, things tend to be much more serious than dating, seeing that you've taken that step to commit yourselves to each other. You have to try to work things out when there's a problem and believe me, there will be problems. No matter how long you've been dating, no matter how much you feel like you've known the person, when you actually get married and started sharing a life together, there's bound to be surprises and problems."

"I heard that after a year of marriage, the so-called 'honeymoon period' is over." Naoko said. "Is that true?"

"I think it depends on your own relationship. Every couple is different, so I can't speak for others. After a while, things settled down and reality set in. Then it would depend on the two of you do to keep the spark alive. If you let it, yes, you'd fall into routines and it's easy to just let things happen, but it _is_ possible to keep the spark alive, the romance and the excitement. Believe it or not, if you two make the effort, things actually get better than the initial 'honeymoon period', as you get to know each other more and discover things together."

Naoko asked, "Could it be because you live abroad, Sakura? I heard things are different there compared to here. And Hiiragizawa is not even a Japanese."

"Probably. I don't know how different it is here, but I think the basics are still the same. One time, I read an article that said, when you're with someone, especially when you're married, you have to make a conscious choice to love the person each and everyday. Love doesn't just happen, you know. It did, initially. But you have to choose to love your spouse, every single day. Marriage is a hard work, but when you both put in the work, it will work." Sakura said.

"What do you think are the most important things in a marriage? Is love really the only thing that you need? Like what the songs say." Chiharu asked.

"Love is important, but love alone is not enough. Love might keep you happy for a while, but you have to have other things too to make it last. I'd say communication, understanding, trust, and honesty are some of the most important things in a marriage, or any relationship, really. Also it's even better if your spouse is your best friend. These are not all, of course. But I can't think of anything else for now." Sakura said and then added. "But that's just my opinion."

"Do you love him, Sakura?" Rika asked with a slight blush.

Sakura nodded. "Of course, Rika. I love him very much." She said with a big smile on her face. Sakura wasn't shy about it either.

"How about you, Chiharu?" Naoko asked the newly engaged girl.

Chiharu blushed furiously. "Uh… I… Why are you asking me that?"

Sakura quickly came to her rescue. "Not everyone is comfortable with it though. Don't worry about that, Chiharu."

"Do you have any advice, Sakura? About marriage." Tomoyo asked curiously.

"I'm going to tell you what my Dad told me and what Eriol and I have been doing in our own life." Sakura told them. "Never, ever take each other and the time that you have together for granted because you never know what the future may bring." She paused, remembering how she had almost lost Eriol last year. It wasn't until then that Sakura really understood what her father had gone through when he lost her mother. "Once you're married, it's easy to assume that you'll be together forever, but sometimes, reality could be harsh. Always make the effort to be good to each other, to be kind and to take care of each other, and to love each other."

The rest were quiet as they considered her words. They knew Sakura's mother passed away when she was very young and that must've been hard on her father.

"Thank you for sharing that, Sakura." Chiharu said. "I'll remember that."

"Me too." The rest of the girls echoed her words.

Sakura smiled and then yawned. "Well, ladies. I'm beat. Let's go to sleep."

The next day, they boarded the buses after breakfast. and went back to Tomoeda.


End file.
